Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (6/30/18):
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Common Blue Cohosh from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 077-05-001:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
COMMON NAME:
Common Blue Cohosh, Papooseroot, Green Vivian
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
JK Marlow jkm0503c_20
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm0503c_25
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm120330_226
March Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
All parts of the plant have a whitish cast, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC.
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_363
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm200321_3270
March Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_thalictroides_b
March
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_442
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
The oval leaflets are irregularly lobed above the middle, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7873
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7881
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7884
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
JK Marlow jkm190427_7886
April Jackson County SC
Blue Ridge Parkway
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_thalictroides_0849
April Polk County NC
The six petal-like sepals are yellow-green to purple-green, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
)
Keith Bradley kab_c_thalictroides_0922
April Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_c_thalictroides_61
April
True petals are the small yellowish glands at the base of petaloid sepals, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains.
)
JK Marlow jkm060508_087
May Macon County NC
Nantahala National Forest: Wayah Ranger District
Black Cohosh on the left; Blue Cohosh on the right
)
JK Marlow jkm120523_195
May Graham County NC
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
1 large ternately decompound leaf above inflorescence, 1(2) smaller below, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
)
JK Marlow jkm070703_089
July Raleigh County WV
Sandstone Falls
The specific epithet "thalictroides" means resembling Thalictrum.
COMPARE
leaves that resemble Thalictrum
)
JK Marlow jkm060806_022
August Polk County NC
Fruits are dark blue, poisonous, and berry-like, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (6/30/18):
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 077-05-001:
Caulophyllum thalictroides
FAMILY
Berberidaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Caulophyllum thalictroides
291
Forb
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Habitat: Rich forests, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Complexly compound, with 2+ levels of pinnate and/or ternate compoundness
FLOWER:
Spring
Yellow, yellow-purple, or green
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
3-merous
6 petaloid sepals
6 reduced petals
6 stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer
Blue
Drupe-like seeds
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee p114
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p052
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p128
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p195
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast p459
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States p017
- Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p068
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p081
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p044
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p066
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p345
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p052